Lock socket guard



April 29, 1924. 1,492,370 l. GOTTLIEB Loox SOCKET GUARD Filed ply 2, 1920 :s sheets-sheet i ,l Z f ,In u mh 3 ||H||1|"'|m|||. "HUH- A 5;

April 29', 1924, 1,492,370

l l. GOTTLIEB Locx SOCKET GUARD Filed July 2, 1920 3 `Sheets-511661. 2

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S 14mm/Lto@ Aprii 29 1924. 1,492,370

v l. GOTTLIEB Locx SOCKET GUARD Filed July 2. 19.20 1 s s'neetsrsheet M an Patented Apr. 29, .1924.

NITED STATES ISAAC GOTTLIEB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LOCK SOCKET GUARD.

Application filed July 2,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAG'GOTTLIEB, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of lNew York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lock Socket Guards, set forth in the following specification.

Much annoyance and financial lossisincident to the employment of lamp socket outlets in rented and in public places. Both the lamp bulbs are stolen and unauthorized connections are made with the socket, the latter particularly for the purpose of operating electrical heating devices, which foonsume many times thecurrent of a lampbulb.

An object of the present inventlon is to render impracticable such 'thieving, including both the removal of the lamp and the unauthorized use of current from the lamp socket outlet.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to improve the coupling structure which is to be embodied as a part of an entire guard structure for the socket. Heretofore a number of devices have been employed for the general objectV of protecting against lamp thefts, but for the most part some simple tool such as a knife, nail file or screw driver has proven sufficient to pry them loose from the lam-p socket. An object of my invention is to overcome this.

In connection with the present invention, itis preferred to employ alockable twosection hinged coupling so that, through the medium of a vkey lock, some usual adjunct to a socket such as an enclosing lamp shade may be locked rigidly in place, the coupling and shade together completely protecting both the electric lamp and the socket.

In this aspect it is an object of my invention to produce a new combination to prevent thefts. That is to combine a lamp shade sufficiently closed to prevent the removal of the lamp bulb with the socket through the medium of the locking coupling which locks both upon the shade and the socket.

A further object of the invention is to improve in detail a lockable coupling for lamp shades upon electric lamp sockets. The above will be pointed out more particularly in the accompanying claim which is directed, merely for purposes of illustration, to the illustrative embodiments of the invention described in the following specification designed yto lock.

1920. Serial No. 3935645.

in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof.

In ythe drawings, Fig. l is a vertical elevation with parts broken away, showing the general assemblage of the invention in connection with a lamp and a socket outlet; Fig. 2 is a plan View with parts broken away of theicoupling structure; Fig. 3 is a fractional view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification of the locking mechanism; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view with parts broken away showing another modification of the lock mechanism; Fig. v5 is a top plan view o-f the modifications .shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is ,a top plan view of the preferred embodiment of my'locking coupling showing the locking 1mechanism in dotted lines; Fig. 7 is a bottom lplan view of the embodiment of Fig. 6 with thecoupling open; and Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation taken along line VIII- VIII of Fig. 6.

A indicates an electric lamp socket or outlet of usual construction, the throat l of which is provided with the usual enlarged bead 2. It is about the throat 1 and upon the bead 2 that the applicants coupling B is C indicates an incandescent lamp guard, in this instance being `shown `in the form of a spherical bulb enclosing lamp shade yof vitreous material, `although it is by no means limited to such material. Itcanbe a bulb-enclosing wire guard having a lfiange like'that of the llamp shade. This lamp guard is provided with an outwardly Haring supporting flange 8 with which the coupling B is designed to cooperate. The coupling structure B comprises in Figs. 1 to 5, a brass or bronze casting so.

that vthe entire structure is very rigid and is formed 1n -two sections Il and 5, symmetrical about the vertical planev passing between the faces 6 and 7. Of course, it is not vital that the coupling B be formed of brass or bronze, as any rigid unyielding material would be satisfactory, whether it be metal or composition such as bakelite.

In the central portion of the coupling B is a constricted throat 8, provided with an inwardly projecting flange 9 which removably grips over the bead 2 of the lamp socket. If desirable perforations 10 are provided in the coupling.

At the left hand end of the plane between faces 6 and 7, the two sections 5 and 4 are hinged together by a substantial hinge 11 of considerable vertical extent, in this embodiment a pin-hinge, preferably the full vertical extent of the outer flange 12. Within the flange 12 is provided a gripping lip 13 L to interlock with the flange 3 of the lamp 1 indicated as a whole by the character D. In

the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, this locking structure comprises a tongue 16 secured in a suitable manner, as by brazing and screws to section 4 and passes through a hasp 17, similarly secured to the section 5.

A padlock 18 cooperating with tongue 16 completes the lock.

In the modification of Fig. 3, the tongue and hasp 16and 17 are attached to coopfr erate on the top face of the coupling instead of the outer rim, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the modication of Figs. 4 and 5 a keylock 21 of the roll top desk type is arranged upon the inner face 23 of the coupling B and operates through a key-hole 24 through the body of the coupling, through the medium of a removable key 25. Infall the embodiments, the locking mechanism is designed to lock the two sections of the coupling rigidly together so no'prying apart or buckling is possible.

The lip 13 interlocks with the flange 3 of the guard shade and the throat flange 9 interlocks with the bead 2 of the socket so that the coupling together with the shade prevents the removal of an incandescent lamp E and likewise prevents the insertion of an unauthorized plug tap in the socket A. It is to be understood that the shade C may indicate illustratively any flanged lamp enclosure.

Although thev cast structure of the yembodiments shownin Figs. 1 to 5 is satisfactory for mechanical rigidity a cheaper rigid construction, and therefore a preferred construction is shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. In this embodiment spun sheet metal such as brass isl employed. The coupling B may first be spun as an entire solid of revolution of uniform thickness. The outer rim 120 is formed with an inturned lip 130 to give rigidity and to form the lamp shade locking flange. The throat 8O has the constricted portion 90 to lock about the lamp socket A. After spinning the structure is severed along the central vertical plane of the edges 60 and 70. A hinge 30 which may be in the form of a stiff wide metal spring is secured to the two sections 4 and 5 as by rivets 31. A latch 32 is pivoted by riveted pin 33 to the under face of section 4 and at its far end is guided by a headed knob 34 passing through slot 35 which has the latching off'- set 36. On the lip 37 is carried the lock tongue 38 which cooperates with the key lock 39 carried by the section 5 to be operated from the top of the coupling B through its usual key, cylinder 40. Thus, when locked, the stud 34 against shoulder r36 resists any opening stress which may be exerted upon the coupling, the lock tongue 38 aids this function but primarily prevents the removal of stud 34 from the shoulder 36 until the lock 39 is unlocked. I have described the details of my construction not as a limitation but merely to illustrate my invention.

What I claimy and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

In an electric lamp guard structure, a two-part collar structure comprising two substantially symmetrical metal sectionsv providing an inwardly restricted inner flange at the top for grasping a lamp socket and an inwardly restricted outer flange of greater diameter than said inner flange at the bottom for grasping a lamp guard and having a vertically extensive outer surface; a vertically extensive hinge spanning the parting between the two sections and involving substantially the full extent of said vertically extending surface; a latch member pivoted to one of said sections opposite said hinge and having a headed boss and a projecting lock tongue, the other of .said sections being provided with a groove-lock to cooperate with said lock tongue and a bayonet slot in which said-headed boss works yto permit the opening of said sections and Isaac GoTTLmB. 

